Patriots to change format of preseason broadcasts

When local viewers tune in to Channel 4 on Aug. 9 to watch the Patriots’ preseason opener against the Eagles, the experience will be considerably different from the preseason broadcasts of recent seasons.

Gone will be the conventional broadcast team of Don Criqui, who has called Patriots preseason games since Robert Kraft bought the franchise in 1994, and Randy Cross, the analyst since 2002.

While the talent for the new format isn’t finalized, all signs point to Dan Roche taking over as host rather than a conventional play-by-play voice (“a traffic-cop role,’’ Smith said), with former Patriot Christian Fauria alongside him as an analyst.

There will also be a former Patriots player on the field as an analyst rather than a conventional sideline reporter.